Reading: Web Resources
Useful Web Resources for Research in Reading
- Read.govExplore New Worlds. Read.
The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress invites people of all ages to discover the fascinating people, places and events that await you whenever you read. - Literacy.orgLiteracy.org at the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education, is comprised of NCAL and ILI. Originally established as the Literacy Research Center in 1983, the National Center for Adult Literacy (NCAL) has been engaged for nearly three decades in cutting edge and high-impact research, innovation, and training in adult education and technology, as well as in other areas of adult basic education and literacy.
Website Evaluation
While conducting research on the web, it is imperative to evaluate the website in question for authority, documentation, currency, and bias. Doing so will ensure that you are using the most credible information possible to support your thesis.
Authority and Accuracy
Who produced the site? Are they a credible source? What is the purpose of the site? Why was it created? Is the person, organization, or group qualified to write this content? What is the domain of the URL?
- .com or.biz - a business or commercial website
- .edu - an educational institution
- .gov or .mil - a U.S. military or government website
- .net - a personal website
- .org - a website for a not-for-profit organization
Documentation
Is there adequate documentation for factual statements? Is the documentation reliable, verifiable from a second source? Is there enough information to cite this information in a paper (author, title, source, date)?
Currency
Is the information up to date? When was it created, or last edited? Are the links up to date or dead? Is the author using outdated statistics?
Objectivity and Bias
Is the document biased or slanted? Are there few or no logical errors such as appeal to authority or circular reasoning? If you found this information a printed source, would you trust it?